Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel celebrates a touchdown in the third quarter against the Oklahoma Sooners during the Cotton Bowl at Cowboys Stadium. / Tim Heitman, USA TODAY Sports

by Eric Prisbell, USA TODAY Sports

by Eric Prisbell, USA TODAY Sports

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Once Johnny Manziel was finally done carving up Oklahoma's defense in almost every way imaginable, Sooners coach Bob Stoops knew he had just witnessed a quarterback as good as any he had ever faced in his career.

"Absolutely," he said.

The Sooners couldn't tackle him and barely touched him most of the night. The best defense Oklahoma could employ was to keep the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback off the field.

And when that strategy failed, the Cotton Bowl turned into a prime-time showcase for the best individual story of the season. Spearheaded by another sensational effort from Manziel, who set the all-time Football Bowl Subdivision record (229) for rushing yards by a quarterback, ninth-ranked Texas A&M pulled away from 11th-ranked Oklahoma to earn a 41-13 victory before an electric atmosphere at Cowboys Stadium.

Said Texas A&M running back Ben Malena said: "Johnny is one of those once-in-a-lifetime guys."

His performance, including a Cotton Bowl-record 516 total yards, capped an almost fictional redshirt freshman season for Manziel, who went from being named starter two weeks before the opener to thriving all season against some of the nation's best defenses. Oklahoma's defense, which won't be confused as one of the nation's best, was no obstacle for Manziel, who seamlessly blended cerebral and athletic brilliance. And for most of the game, he made all of it look effortless.

With almost every on-field decision, Manziel, 20, exhibited superior vision and instincts that kept athletic defensive players guessing all night. And with every agile move â?? the change of pace amid defenders, the sharp cutting in the open field â?? he displayed the mobility that has made him a college football marvel.

"What did you see all year?" Stoops said. "If you've got an angle on him, he stops, goes the other way. If you don't, he out-runs you. Our guys, I don't know if we had a track meet who would win. All the changes in direction, is tough to deal with in the open field."

Manziel spent the past couple weeks fielding questions about distractions after a whirlwind December in which he made stops on both coasts and appeared on various television shows. He also lost his offensive coordinator, Kliff Kingsbury, who took the Texas Tech head-coaching job. If Manziel had flopped Friday night, he would merely join a lengthy list of Heisman winners who under-performed in bowl games.

Instead of being overwhelmed by the moment, Manziel said he walked out before a raucous crowd and thought, "Just another day. I'm still Johnny Manziel."

Throughout the last month, Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mark Snyder threw every type of blitz and coverage at Manziel in practice to try to rattle him. It rarely did, at least not for long.

"I'd go, 'I've got some new stuff for you today, I'm going to bust your butt,'" Snyder said. "He would just look at me and smile. He would bust me. I said, 'There's a reason why you brought home that hardware, son. You're good.' No one knows him better than me to defend him. And he still wows me."

It took all of one drive Friday for Manziel to wow the crowd and compile a Cotton Bowl highlight reel. In the game's opening minutes, he held the ball in the pocket and held it some more as he was unable to find an open receiver. Then he made a sharp cut to his left and took off for 24 yards.

On the eighth play of the drive, he spun away from a tackler, eluded safety Javon Harris, who made an attempt at a one-arm tackle, and tiptoed down the sideline for the final few yards until in the end zone. With that 23-yard touchdown scamper, Manziel had 51 rushing yards on the first drive, which served only as a prelude.

"It's nothing but respect for him," Harris said. "We tried to keep him contained, but once he slipped out, we were chasing him. Clearly, you saw what he did to the SEC all year."

Oklahoma did its best to keep the phenom off the field. The Sooners controlled the ball for more than 20 minutes in the half. They ran 51 offensive plays, 19 more than Texas A&M in the half. They had drives of 13, 16 and 18 plays. And Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones set Cotton Bowl records for first-half completions and attempts.

"What, did we punt one time [in the first half]?" Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said. "We didn't have the ball."

None of it mattered. The Aggies (11-2) still led their old Big 12 rival Oklahoma (10-3) by one point at halftime. And they poured on 20 unanswered third-quarter points to make the Cotton Bowl all about the one unlikely man who dominated the headlines all season.

"With a month of preparation, they are adding wrinkles with the option and different plays with him," Stoops said. "So you play him in a one safety high â?? I'll say it the right way â?? you're out of luck. Then you play him with a two safety look, you're out of luck another way."

Perhaps the defining play was when Manziel zigzagged and changed pace and zigzagged some more, barely touched by any defender until 44 yards downfield.

"You're trying to get pressure and come underneath on an outside rush," Stoops said. "Then he aborts it and either waits and throws it downfield or takes off and runs for 40."

After the game, Manziel called the magic carpet ride of a season "crazy," but was hardly basking in the individual spotlight. In fact, he knows the bar will be raised even higher next season, when everyone tunes in for the sequel. And he can't wait.

"It depends on how hard people want to work in the offseason," he said of next season's team expectations. "I am going to call the guys up and ask them, 'How hard do we want this? Do we want to have all this hype and not back it up, or do we want to grind this summer?' If we want to put in the work, the sky is the limit."

Once Johnny Manziel was finally done carving up Oklahoma's defense in almost every way imaginable, Sooners coach Bob Stoop knew he had just witnessed a quarterback as good as any he had ever faced in his career.